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Words into Art

Imnaha River – Jackie Smith

My friend asked me to go hear author Pamela Royes talk about her book Temperance Creek: A Memoirat a quilt shop. At a quilt shop? I thought. I didn’t know that QuiltWorks had a “Books to Quilts” program.

Pamela spoke about her book and showed slides of where she lives in the rugged country near Hells Canyon in northeastern Oregon. A chance encounter with Skip Royes led her into living the life of a wandering shepherder. She and Skip spent four years on a life-changing journey in the wilderness. Pamela transforms from a carefree hippie into a responsible woman who learns to appreciate the wildness of her new home. She also learns of the culture of the Nez Perce, who first occupied this land.

Her lyrical prose helps paint pictures in your mind of her adventures and the surrounding country. Quilters made the “words into art” and they displayed their work in this shop. Pamela became emotional as she described her appreciation for the quilts depicting her words. These creative works meant more to her than any trophy.

Sheep and a special dog

These quilts show different interpretations of sheep. Some are realistic while others are whimsical. Their dog, Puss, helped keep the sheep in line.

Come Follow Me – Carol Luther

Here’s Looking at Ewe- Vicki Roadman

Watching Sheep – Diane Ottenfeld

Endless Sheep – Jill Monley

Buttercup – Eileen Heber

Tom and Peggy – Heidi Thaut

Puss – Vicki Roadman

Horsing around

Here are quilts showing horses and mules, an important part of their family.

Horses! – Linda Mullholand

Nez Perce War Pony – Vicki Roadm

Mule Dears – Jinks Snow

Flora and Fauna

These quilts show some of the plants and animals that live in northeastern Oregon. Pamela and Skip had many exciting encounters with wildlife in the back country.

No Country for Fools – Kristin Shields

Into the Wild… First Bloom – Elayne Logan Currie

Eastern Oregon – Ruth Kinane

Flora and Fauna of Hells Canyon – Patti Stewart

Pick-Up Sticks – Kim McCray

The Best Time – Kay Gutierrez

Camping out and remembering

They spent months out in the wilderness living in a tent. They remembered the contributions of Native Americans who called this place home.

Outside the Tent – Joan Fox

The View Outside the Tent Flaps – Maggie Jaeger

Memories – Karen Miller

Sweat Lodge – Suzanne Martin Black Elk Speaks – Joan Upshaw

Little Details

These quilts focus on some of the small details of their life. Sometimes Pamela had one foot in one world and the other in another.

Temperance Creek High Heels – Charlotte Sara Oakes

“How long will we be gone?” “Well, until we get back” – Cathy Smith

Commitment The Significance of Small Things “Christmas on Pony Bar” – Jean Wilkinson

Steppin’ Out – Cindy O’Neal

The Murmur of Small Things – Martha Phair Sanders

The Land

Many of the quilts focus on the beauty of the land. Some of these are abstract, others are realistic. They vary in appearance and texture, just like the land they represent.

Making the Way – Shirlee J. Johnson

Imnaha River Valley Gyrification – Suzette Decourcey Shoulders

Impressions – Judi Martin

Home, The High Mountains – Bev Henneous

Temperance Creek Trail – Gayle Gassner

Follow Your Heart – Janet MacConnell

Fragments – Marion Miller

Canyons – Jean WilkinsonGleam of Snake River – Linda S. Ripsch

And as the sun sinks into the West

This quilt captures the color and majesty of the country around North Temperance Creek. I hope you liked these beautiful words into art quilts as much as I did.

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I’ve featured several outdoor photos taken in and around Fort Rock, but now you’ll get glimpses indoors at the Fort Rock Valley Homestead Museum. Many of these historical buildings were moved here from nearby. The homes and businesses are furnished as they would have been in the early 1900s. This is a place where history truly comes alive.

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.

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The water in some of the springs presents to the eye the colors of all the precious gems known to commerce. In one spring the hue is like that of an emerald, in another like that of the turquoise, another has the ultra-marine hue of the sapphire, another has the color of topaz; and the suggestions has been made that the names of these jewels may very properly be given to many of these springs.

Nathaniel Pitt Langford in Diary of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870.

Grand Prismatic Spring is the crown jewel of hot springs at Yellowstone National Park. The landscape of Grand Prismatic has all the colors of the rainbow. The cracks and tracks add some interesting texture as well. This 370-foot wide spring is the largest in the United States and third largest in the world.

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The sky takes on shades of orange during sunrise and sunset, the colour that gives you hope that the sun will set only to rise again.

Ram Charan

We have many beautiful sunrises and sunsets here in Bend, Oregon. Sometimes the unique colors and forms of the clouds are totally unexpected and they’ll take your breath away. Here are a few of those moments my camera allowed me to capture.

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The Artwork of Nature

I visited Blue Pool on a cool September day. Mother Nature was busy there producing colorful works of art. The colors in the pool are unbelievably beautiful and intense. On this day, the warm colors of fall leaves were reflected on the water.

As I mentioned in Blue Pool is a Jewel, the reflections look like Impressionist paintings. I could have stayed there for a long time taking pictures. Can you see why?

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As you wade through the waters of your life you often end up making a splash. Sometimes you make a big loud splash and other times you need to make a quieter one. Maybe only a ripple. Here are photos of quieter splashes I have seen in Oregon.

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The Photographs of Edward S. Curtis in the By Her Hand Exhibit

This exhibition features portraits of Native women by photographer Edward S. Curtis from the collection of Christopher G. Cardozo. Curtis took the featured photographs over a 30-year period as part of a project to document Native American’s lifestyle and culture in a time of change. Curtis traveled across North America from 1900 to 1930 photographing over 80 tribes.

Edward S. Curtis worked out of a studio in Seattle, Washington and received financial support from J. P. Morgan. Curtis collected information about the lives of each tribe through photographs, writings, and audio recordings. With the help of Native translators, he assembled a 20-volume set titled The North American Indian. Curtis intended to publish 500 copies but due to a series of financial and personal setbacks, only about 272 were printed. Ninety percent of the original sets are owned by institutions, including the High Desert Museum.

Hupa Female Shaman – by Edward S. Curtis

The portraits in this exhibit have a beautiful yet haunting quality to them. The labor-intensive photogravure process Curtis used allowed him to create subtle variations in tone and focus. Curtis insisted on using only the highest quality materials and he experimented with a variety of techniques. In 2015 there was a city-wide celebration of Curtis’ work in Bend. Dawn Boone, of the A6 studio, gave a lecture on the photographs. She made an observation that one of the women portrayed seemed to be “softening back into the earth right before our eyes.”

On the Beach – Chinook by Edward S. Curtis

Native American author Louise Erdrich has an interesting perspective on the women represented in Edward S. Curtis’ photographs. She said, “Women’s work is celebrated in Curtis’ photographs–women grind corn, bake bread, make clay vessels, doctor each other, pick berries, haul wood and water, gather reeds, dig clams. These images of women working are among my favorites, for they are more practical then elegiac, yet entirely harmonious, and they are often the most sensual of Curtis’ works.”